LUCKNOW: In order to equate the Diplomate of National Board (DNB) qualifications with MD/MS degrees for the purpose of teaching in medical colleges, the new Board of Governors (BoG) of the MCI had recently issued a gazette notification amending the Teachers' Eligibility and Qualification guidelines. While this has brought cheers to the DNB holders who had for long demanded this amendment, an unexpected controversy has erupted due to its misinterpretation.

A Rajasthan based association by the name "All India Pre and Para Clinical Medicos Association" (AIPCMA) had alleged that the MCI had removed the eligibility of non-medical teachers in the recent amendment. "This association is involved in malicious propaganda against the non-medical teachers and has created fake news to mislead everyone. Not only did this association give misleading statements to the press but is also indulging in misleading the medical colleges by writing letters", said Arjun Maitra, the General Secretary of National M.Sc Medical Teachers Association (NMMTA). "It is vital that this misinformation is corrected", he added while condemning the unethical methods adopted by AIPCMA to pursue its agenda.

"The amendment brought out by the MCI pertains only to the inclusion of DNB as an additional qualification. Only serial number 4 and clause 6 of the Schedule-I of the guidelines were amended for this purpose. The serial number 2, which describes the eligibility of the non-medical teachers has not been amended", said Dr. Sridhar Rao, President of NMMTA. "The eligibility of non-medical teachers remains as it is", he clarified.

In order to clear the confusion, a delegation of NMMTA had visited the MCI's headquarters at Delhi on 10th December and met both the Chairman of MCI's BoG Dr. V.K Paul and its Secretary General Dr. Sanjay Shrivastava. "Our meeting with the MCI was fruitful. MCI has clarified that no changes have been made with respect to the eligibility of the non-medical teachers. We have also presented a few other issues of non-medical teachers and the MCI is likely to amend the TEQ guidelines further", said Arjun Maitra. "The misleading propaganda carried out by AIPCMA has created confusion among the medical colleges, therefore NMMTA had to issue a clarification", he added.

Non-medical teachers are those who hold medical M.Sc postgraduate degree in the non-clinical subjects of Anatomy, Physiology, Biochemistry, Pharmacology, and Microbiology awarded under the faculty of medicine in the medical colleges. Currently, the TEQ guidelines of the MCI provisions appointment of non-medical teachers up to the extent of 30% (50% in Biochemistry) in these non-clinical subjects. NMMTA is the registered national association of persons with Medical M.Sc degree in these subjects, many of whom are teachers working in medical colleges across India.